Windswept (13 page)

He nodded.

She reached out and touched his arm. “Jacob, I readily admit to encouraging
you
.”

“Ah, hah! I thought so.” Though he reveled in her admission, the grin dissolved from his face. “So, you want me to kiss you?”

“Despite the rude conclusion of our only other embrace, I found the kiss quite satisfactory. And, yes, I wouldn’t mind if you did it again.”

His hand came up to stroke her hair, tentatively at first until he lifted a thick wave over her shoulder to lie at her breast. His fingers trailed down the curl as he studied her face in the low light from the tavern window. Could he tell she felt his caress all the way through her scalp to that part of her that governed her senses? Did he know his gaze brought a warm flow of blood to her cheeks?

“But only if you want to,” she said.

His other hand settled on her waist, drawing her closer as his head lowered part way to hers and stopped. His smile washed over her like the noon sun. “I think I could endure kissing you again, Nora, but it shouldn’t happen without a warning. You’ve been drinking. Do you really know what you’re asking?”

Yes, she’d been drinking…a little. And something made it feel as though her feet weren’t grounded on the sand, but she doubted very much if it was the ale. She looked into gray eyes that had gone smoky with hard to fathom male emotions. “I know exactly, Captain.”

He lay his palm against her cheek. His thumb caressed her lips in the instant before his mouth covered them. He tasted of spice and grog, and smelled faintly of salt and leather. He took her with a groan of frustration that soon blended with her own sigh of intense and thorough pleasuring as his mouth moved exquisitely on hers.

His hand spanned her back, urging her closer until their hips touched. Her tummy pressed against his abdomen. Tender breasts swelled against fine muslin and the coarser fabric of his shirt. And the kiss, the sweetly torturous, gently punishing kiss continued until all that existed was Jacob’s mouth, and the only sound Nora heard was the beating of her heart. When at last he pulled away, she knew why she hadn’t been able to banish the memory of Jacob’s kiss from her mind. And why now she never would.

This time he didn’t send her away. He held her against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. When she sighed, he kissed her hair. “Nora, sweet Nora,” he whispered. “Why do you tempt me? It would be wrong for you to become involved with me.”

She leaned back and looked up at him. “It should
feel
wrong then. But it doesn’t.”

He smiled, but not with contentment. With regret, so that once again he was a mystery. Once again she didn’t understand him. His lips lowered to take hers in another sublime mating. “It doesn’t, but, Nora, it is.”

The sad finality of his statement cut to her heart. Why was it wrong? Was it because he was after all, the man her father claimed he was? Was Jacob trying to warn her of that very thing? How could he be when he had just held her so gently in his arms? She had to know the truth and would have asked him, but she heard someone call her name and was denied the opportunity. “Nora! Miss Seabrook, are you here?”

Jacob stepped away from her as if her flesh had turned to stone. His face became a mask of indifference, his voice droned with the passionless inflection of reason. “I believe that is the call of your beau, Miss Nora.”

She recognized the voice as Theo’s and groaned with impatience at having to face him. But there was no escape. His footsteps rustled in the low palms that lined the street by Jimmy Teague’s.

Jacob put his hand on the small of her back and forced her to walk toward the front of the tavern. As soon as Theo came into view, Jacob called out to him. “Counselor Hadley. I am bringing Miss Seabrook to you now.”

There was no doubt of Theo’s opinion upon seeing Nora escorted by Jacob Proctor. His eyes went round with shock, and his lips pursed with distaste. “Nora, whatever are you doing in this part of town at this hour?”
And with this man?
his voice implied.

Jacob smiled jovially, but his fingers, still on her back, curled with the effort of controlling his temper. He prompted her forward until she was more in the company of Theo than of him. “Tell him, Miss Seabrook. Tell him about the curiosity which brought you here this evening.”

Nora spun around only to stare at the implacable restraint on Jacob’s features. He was a chameleon, capable of changing on the slightest impulse while she was a caldron of emotions, not the least of which was confusion. Though her eyes were fixed on Jacob, she spoke to Theo. “Yes, that’s right. I was curious about what was going on at the harbor, and I’m afraid I allowed my stroll to lead me in this direction.”

Theo reached for her elbow. “Really, Nora, that was a most impetuous action and one which could have resulted in dire consequences. No young woman of breeding should ever venture into this environment unescorted. If your father knew…”

Refusing to look away from Jacob, Nora countered, “Are you going to tattle on me, Theo?”

“Tattle? Why, no, I would never…”

“Good. Because there’s no need. I already know my actions tonight display the lack of common sense God granted a common housefly!” Grabbing her skirts, she whirled away from the man whose eyes tormented her with indifference. “Take me home, Theo,” she said, not waiting for the attorney to keep pace with her.

Jacob watched her go until the pale pink of her dress blended with the moonlight, and the flaps of the coat draped over Hadley’s shoulders became part of the blackness of the night. Then he went back to the veranda of Jimmy Teague’s, ordered a pint and found Willy. Lottie had diverted her attention to another fellow, and for this, Jacob was grateful.

After a long gulp of brew had taken the first step toward calming his raging emotions, Jacob spoke to his mate. “Willy, I’ll be glad when this damned auction is over. I want you to make arrangements to sail. I want full provisions on the
Cloud
by Monday noon.”

“Full provisions, Jacob? I thought our next trip was just to Nassau.”

“Not anymore. We’re going to Belle Isle. It’s almost time, and I need to get away. Far away.”

Nora settled back against her pillows and allowed Fanny to press a cool cloth to her forehead. When she and Theo returned home, Nora had whisked past the parlor door, giving only a succinct answer to her mother’s questions about where she’d been. Then she’d gone upstairs to her room hoping her cousin would sense her distress and come to see what was wrong. In only seconds, Fanny had knocked.

“Are you feeling better,
cherie
?” Fanny asked minutes later. “I must say, I don’t know what possessed an innocent such as you to drink that manly brew.”

That “manly brew” had taken its toll, all right. By the time Nora reached her house, she had definitely felt its effects. To combat Nora’s queasiness, Fanny had immediately gone to the kitchen for willow bark tea and dry bread. Insisting that her young cousin consume both, Fanny now fussed over her with affectionate pats and gentle remonstrances.

“You needn’t tell me not to do such a stupid thing again, Fanny,” Nora said. “I learned my lesson with only one overindulgence.”

“I know,
cherie
. And you are certainly entitled to your bold misadventures on the journey to womanhood. Goodness knows I’ve experienced one or two myself.”

Despite the veins throbbing at her temples, Nora smiled at her cousin’s understatement. “That’s just it, Fanny. I’m not at all sure this is a journey I even want to take any more.”

“Ahh…” Fanny intoned with a nod. “So this misadventure has more to do with a man than all the grog in Key West.”

“How did you know?”

“Some gifted souls read minds,
cherie
. I am blessed with the ability to read hearts. And since I’ve guessed the reason for your fall from grace tonight, why don’t you fill me in with the details.”

“It’s him, Fanny!” Nora groaned into her pillow. “I can’t get him out of my mind, and yet I know I’m not even remotely in his.”

“First, I assume the object of your distress is not the attentive and attainable Mr. Hadley, no?”

“No.”

“Therefore, this heartless creature must be the dashing, but bewildering Captain Proctor.”

Nora nodded miserably.

Fanny looked into her cousin’s eyes and smiled. “A man well worth a little heartache, I must admit.”

“Oh, yes, he is!”

“Tell me what happened,
cherie
. And I will try to figure it out for you.”

Nora poured her heart out to her cousin, beginning with her ill-advised trip to the cupola, Jacob’s visit to her classroom, and tonight’s disastrous encounter. “He’s kissed me twice, Fanny. Yet both times he’s acted as though it was the last thing he wanted to do. Well, not when he was doing it exactly, but afterwards. But why would he kiss me when the idea is so repulsive to him?”

Fanny chuckled. “I doubt very much that the idea is repulsive at all, Nora. I’ve seen the way the captain looks at you. Those dark, mysterious eyes of his hold the heated passion of a paramour. Trust me.”

“Then why does he treat me so callously?”

“That is the puzzle we must solve. And we don’t have nearly all the pieces yet. I suspect the captain is a very complex man.” Fanny touched the tip of Nora’s nose with her index finger. “But if your heart tells you that it must hold Jacob Proctor, then we must try to find the truth of him.”

Nora began to feel a little better. If Fanny thought Jacob had some feelings for her, then it might very well be so. After all, Fanny knew all about these things. She squeezed Fanny’s hand in gratitude. “What would I do without you, cousin?”

“Probably stay out of trouble,
cherie
,” Fanny said with a frown. “I will help you if I can, Nora, but I must warn you that love is not a game in which the winner is always happy. You should remember that for very serious reasons, your papa doesn’t approve of this man. You may eventually get to the bottom of your captain’s enigmatic behavior. You may even ensnare him with your charms, my dear, but in the end, your papa might not let you go with him. Are you willing to risk that kind of heartache, Nora? It is, indeed, powerful and wicked.”

Fanny’s warning held a distressing truth. Nora doubted that her father would ever approve of Jacob. And even worse, what if her father was right? What if Jacob was guilty of luring innocent people to the dangerous reefs? What if he was the one so possessed of greed that he would stop at nothing to amass his fortune? His bold accusations to Moony Swain may have been purposely misleading…false indictments of greed that should have been directed at the man who said them.

At lunch in the Seabrook household on Thursday, the topic of conversation, much as it must have been in many Key West homes, was Jacob Proctor’s auction the next day.

Theo paused between bites of his conch salad. “What percentage has the captain been granted as profit, Your Honor?”

“The judge before me granted him twenty percent of all money taken at auction,” Thurston said. “Not that I approve of such a generous amount, you understand.”

“That is high,” Theo agreed. “I thought wreckers were generally commissioned between ten and fifteen percent.”

Thurston sat back and leveled a smile on the young attorney. “You’ve done some research, Hadley, and you’re right. Most wreckers only realize that amount. But Proctor somehow convinced Judge Norwald that he was due a higher amount.”

“How did he do that?”

“I read the court records. Apparently Proctor argued that because nearly all the cargos of the wrecks in question were saved, and passengers were rescued expediently, his cut should be higher than customary.” Thurston waggled his fork at Theo. “I don’t run my court that way, you understand. I fully expect lives and cargos to be saved. It’s the wrecker’s job to see the salvage is done properly. I’m sorry to say the judges before me have been an unprincipled lot. Some of them, I suspect, even split profits with the disreputable wreckers. And I believe that what’s fair for one is fair for all. But I’m not surprised Proctor had Norwald dancing to his tune.”

“And all this explains exactly why you’re here and Norwald isn’t,” Theo said, further embedding himself into Thurston’s good graces.

“Correct again, young man. I was sent down here to see what was going on in this court and set it to rights. I can’t do much about the conditions in place for tomorrow’s auction, but I can damn well see that Proctor doesn’t take advantage of a Federal court again.”

Theo looked at Nora, obviously gauging her reaction to the conversation. She pretended that she’d dropped her napkin and was retrieving it from the floor. Anything but let Theo see that she was intent on every word being said.

Theo had been overly attentive since escorting her home the previous night. He’d risen early to walk her to school and even met her at the milliner’s shop at ten-thirty to accompany her home. And he’d made his opinions about Jacob Proctor crystal clear. He didn’t like the man and didn’t think Nora should risk her reputation by being seen in his company.

“I’m not one to gossip, Your Honor,” Theo continued after Nora’s napkin was back in place, “and it’s certainly not my intention to spread ill will in this community, but I think there is something you should know about Proctor.”